The lots on which this Second Empire frame house was built was owned by William R. Young who in 1879 “sojourned” in Tennessee and signed over all his property to his wife, Esther Young. (That land included the lot on which the house directly east of this was built.) Young had served as Bailiff from 1866 to 1872. However, an ownership dispute arose that was resolved by a court trustee selling these lots in 1909 to Joseph Simson. Simson in 1904 had been a business partner of Richard H. Leithiser in opening their men’s apparel store on Franklin Street. In 1912, Joseph and Ella Simson sold this property to Emanuel Hecht (1856-1951). Emanuel was the brother of Isaac Hecht who had built and opened The Hecht Hotel at 667 Green Street.

Records do not indicate whether Simson built this house between 1909 and 1912, when he sold the property to Emanuel Hecht, or whether Hecht built it shortly after 1912. Emanuel was married to Fannie Weiss Hecht (1875-1946) and they had two children, Jacob E. “Jake” Hecht (1914-1984) and Hannah R. Hecht (1910-1991).

In 1925, Emanuel and Fannie W. Hecht bought a building at 205-207 North Washington Street and opened Hecht’s Hardware there on the first floor, with toys and other items on the second floor. As Hannah and Jake grew they also worked in the store, which was in business for many years and was eventually owned by Jake Hecht and his wife, Gladys. After the death of Fannie, Emanuel deeded this home to their daughter, Hannah Hecht, in 1948 and she lived here for almost another 30 years (this also remained the home of Emanuel until his 1951 death). .

Philip J. Barker bought this home in 1977 and lived here with his wife, Charlotte (“Charlie”) until 1983. Phil worked in the J.M. Huber Corporation for more than 30 years, served as Mayor of Havre de Grace from 1997 to 2001, and with Charlie was active in numerous civic organizations in the county and city. New owners in 1983 were Joseph Freeman and his wife Mary, who now live in Bel Air, and their son, John Freeman. It seems that it may have been at this time that some renovations were made to the previously single family home to separate it into at least two units. In 1986, the deed reflects that Joseph and Mary Freeman owned a ½ interest in the property and John and Carol Freeman owned the other ½ interest.

About 16 years later, the two Freeman couples sold the property to Michael J. and Joanne F. Ervine who lived here for three years before relocating to Cape May, New Jersey. They sold the property in 2005 to Marlene Slade, for whom this is an investment property of 2-3 units. The open lot on the west side of this house is part of this property. Both this house and the one next door at 552 Green Street have interesting double entrances that provide a wind break when entering the front doors.

County Records
Built 1930. 2440 sq ft, 2.5 stories with basement. 3 bathrooms, 9,000 sq ft lot.